Various other polynuclear vanadium-sulfur complexes are known. For instance, Szeymies et al, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 22 (1983) No. 11, pp. 885, 886; Dorfman et al, Inorg. Chem. 1983, 22, pp. 3179-3181; and Wiggins et al, J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., 1983, pp. 1313-1315 all disclose the existence of [V.sub.2 (SCH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 S).sub.4 ].sup.2-. Other vanadium-sulfur complexes containing multiple vanadium atoms are shown in Bollinger et al, Organometallics 1982, I, pp. 1551-1553 ((C.sub.5 H.sub.4 CH.sub.3).sub.2 V.sub.2 S.sub.5) and Bollinger et al, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1983, 105, pp. 6321-6323 ((i-PrC.sub.5 H.sub.4).sub.2 V.sub.2 S.sub.4 and (C.sub.5 H.sub.5).sub.2 V.sub.2 S.sub.2 (S.sub.2 C.sub.2 (CF.sub.3).sub.2)).
Single vanadium atom-containing complexes are disclosed in Gambarotta et al, J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., 1983, pp. 184-186; Larkworthy et al, Inorganica Chimica Acta, 74 (1983), pp. 155-158; Kuch et al, Organometallics 1983, 2, pp. 350-351; and Szeymies et al, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl., 23, (1984), 10, pp. 804-805.
None of these references disclose neutral vanadium sulfide dimers complexed by dithioacid ligands having the structure ##STR3##